Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 147, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 June 1919 — COULD NOT SEE INTO FUTURE [ARTICLE]

COULD NOT SEE INTO FUTURE

Men of Genius Had Little Idea What" Their Inventions Might Mean to flfe World. It appears that it is hot infrequently the case that great inventors do not comprehend the significance of the things they have produced. Here are two examples: When Hertz first began to obtain satisfactory results from his now famous researches into tint possibility of transmitting electric waves certain mtn of-science suggested that some day similar vibrations might serve to transmit messages through space. Hertz laughed at the hypothesis and assured all comers that his experiments were for laboratories only. Now, after a few' short years. It is hard to find a single issue of a daily newspaper that does not record some noteworthy example of the use of wireless telegraphy. Levassor was the great engineer who sketched the automobile with such skill that his design has not been materially changed to this day. After Levassor accomplished his historic trip from- Parts to Bordeaux and re-

turn at the dizzy speed of about 15 miles an hour his admirers gave him a banquet. During the toasts one of them, "Stirred by the spirit of the occasion, rose and enthusiastically called on the assembly to drink to the approaching day when carriages should travel at the speed of 60 miles an hour. Levassor turned to his nearest neighbor and asked in a quick undertone: “Why is It that after every banquet some people feel called on to make fools of themselves?”